Everything's Gonna Be Alright
by Katzstorm
Summary: Dean hoped that she would stay a secret, but now his father is dead. Forget about John's rules, she has a right to be at her daddy's funeral, even if she hasn't properly seen him since she was three: the same night that her mother died and her brothers actually escaped the fire. Kath Winchester may be blind, but she is anything but helpless. Time to continue the family business. AU
1. Traveling Alone

The phone started ringing at almost exactly noon, because her cuckoo clock had just finished singing its fluffy little heart out when she picked up the phone.

"This is Kathleen," she said, and what came next changed the way she lived for the rest of her life.

"Kath? Thank God, is that really you?"

"Dean?" She would recognize that voice anywhere. "Dean, how are you? Where are you? How'd you get my number? How's Sammy? And Dad? Please tell me they're alright. Gosh, it's been forever since we've talked, I figured you'd probably forgotten about me, and I've been starting to get so anxious-" She would have rambled on for minutes had he given her the chance, but today wasn't an ordinary day.

"Kath, catch the quickest flight you have to Jefferson City. You need to be here." There was something wrong in his voice, like he was having trouble speaking.

"Dean, what happened? You know I'm not supposed to be anywhere near you two, remember what Dad said-"

"Screw what Dad said," Dean snapped into the phone. "You need to be here."

He never snapped at her. Maybe with Dad, if he was angry enough. Definitely with Sam, whom he was usually miffed with. But never at her. "Dean. What is going on?"

There was a pause, and she heard the pain in his voice as he struggled to get out the words. "Dad's dead, Kath. He's gone."

Kath felt herself fall backwards before she had the chance to recover, the phone slipping from her grasp as she hit the floor. _I thought he was bluffing,_ she thought to herself. _This is all my fault. _She heard as Dean yelled something into the phone, probably asking if she were okay. She scrambled on her knees, reaching for the phone, and when she grabbed it, felt her hand trembling as she picked it up. It took a few seconds for her to respond to his shouts into the phone. "I-I've been better. Don't worry about me, I'll be there in a few hours. Dean, what are you going to tell Sam about me?"

Another pause. "When you get here, we'll tell him the truth. Together."

* * *

"Flight 64R, seat 2A. Ms. Sarah Robinson, could you please come to the front desk?"

Kath had to grin to herself. Sometimes flying solo did have its perks. She extended the long, collapsible cane that she carried everywhere with her and slowly made her way to where she knew the front desk was located after asking a clerk when she first arrived, apologizing as she accidentally hit a few wayward passengers.

"Ms. Robinson?" The perky desk clerk asked with a hint of caution. She was a new voice, but was obviously choosing her words carefully to avoid insulting the passenger. "Here ma'am, let me grab your bag." Kath could just make out the figure moving in her direction and stepped backwards.

"No need dear," Kath said with a smile. "I travel light for a reason." It really was a light bag, flung over her shoulder with one arm and while she held her cane with the other. Thankfully the clerk didn't seem the type to invade her privacy and insist on carrying it for her. Kath never let the bag out of her care when she traveled. "Now, would you mind showing me the way to the plane? That's why I was called up, I assume."

"Of course ma'am. Right this way." The clerk held out her arm to Kath and she took it, using her as a guide down the tunnel toward the plane.

Strangely, this hall seemed just a little too long to be a airplane tunnel. Kath paused for a moment. "Would you be a dear and grab the water bottle in the front pocket for me? I get so thirsty before a flight."

"No problem Ms. Robinson." The water bottle, an ordinary-shaped container that from what Kath knew had no outside markings, was thrust into her hand. Kath unstoppered it, lifted it to her mouth, then threw the liquid at the clerk. The resounding _hiss_ as the holy water hit the clerk's body actually made Kath grin.

"I may be blind, demon, but that doesn't make me stupid." She jerked upward, was met with a happy _thud_ when her silver cane contacted with the demon's jaw, and heard a growl come from the thing as she twisted quickly to hold a pointed dagger at its throat, slipped out from her boot faster than most people could blink. "What do you want?"

The demon laughed instead, its chuckles demented as they mixed with the blood in the possessed body's mouth. "You're a Winchester, _Kathleen_, but you're not really a Winchester. Stay out of this fight and you won't get hurt."

Kath kept a straight face, but internally seethed. "I just found out that both of my parents are now dead. I hadn't spoken to any of my family for a year before this happened. I'm blind, you stupid creature. I've already been hurt in more way than you can count. So I'll give you the same advice. Leave, and I won't kill you. At least not today."

She stood up promptly, dusted herself off, picked up her cane and bag, and walked away. It wouldn't come after her. She would see it coming. It was her one and only blessing in her eternal land of darkness. If it was supernatural, she could see it. And this one was already gone.

* * *

Kathleen Winchester sat in her aisle seat of the plane to Jefferson City, tapping over and over again on her armrest. First flight out of New York to Missouri, exactly one hour and fifty-three minutes after Dean had called her. She refused to let herself think the impossible, but suddenly true; John Winchester was dead. And she'd never have the chance to say goodbye.

_He may have left me behind, but it was _always _to keep me and the boys safe. _Two weeks after John discovered the truth about his wife's death, he took off for the nearest supernatural creature, the little boys in tow. It was one thing to care for a toddler and infant on the road. It was entirely different to bring along a blind child as well. Kath needed a proper education, supplies that John couldn't provide for her as a hunter. And there was always the case of what happened the night she went blind... Anyways, Sam and Dean just weren't safe with her around. Missouri the psychic was a piece of heaven found in a hopeless man's refuge. Before Kathleen knew it, she had a new mother: a woman who taught her to sense and understand everything around her. Thanks to Missouri, Kath could read, write, and sense demons before she reached the age of five. Fighting them off came with time and lessons. But John never forgot her, never missed a birthday. Until the day that she turned him away. It was the day before her twenty-third birthday too, a night after she'd survived a vicious demon attack that nearly cost her everything. John had shown up to try too little, too late.

_"Kathleen Winchester, you open the door right now!" She could hear him pounding on the door of her temporary apartment, but refused to answer it. _

_"What are you going to do, _sir_?" That term had always been used with respect, but there was no respect this evening. "Break the door down? Feel free to, I'd just love to have a reason to call the cops on you."_

_"Kath," he tried to reason with her now. "I'm your father."_

_"No!" She shouted through the doorway, ignoring the angry tears that began to stream down her face. "Not anymore! Not after _everything _that you've made me do! You can't keep trying to pretend that you actually care about what happens to me. I should have died; that demon wanted me a rotting corpse. If it weren't for this stupid feud, I probably wouldn't have had to deal with it. I'm tired of this. If I hadn't been on my deathbed, I probably wouldn't have seen you for years, and that's not what family is supposed to do. I wanted to have a real family, Dad: a real father and two real brothers, not the bullshit I had to tell kids at school about why I was an only child of an adoptive mom. They were all lies! And you expect me to keep lying until I die?"_

_She heard John's press against the door in exasperation. "I'm trying to keep you safe, Kath. I'm trying to keep us _all _safe."_

_"I'm tired of safe, Dad!" She grabbed the nearest item on her coffee table, which she knew to be a hard-copy Braille version of Bram Stoker's _Dracula_, and threw it at an offending wall. "Safe hasn't really worked for us, has it? I'm still hunted like the pieces of crap that you and Dean go looking for. I heard that Sammy left too; he couldn't put up with it either, huh? Mom's dead, Dad, and she's not coming back. Can't you just quit on this revenge and let the thing on its way? Maybe then I can come out of this hermit life. Maybe then I can actually meet my baby brother."_

_Silence. Then,'"You know that can't happen, Kathleen." _

_She grabbed a bigger book this time, an encyclopedia of some sorts, and threw it at the door. _Thud. _"Fine. Continue with this stupid hunt. I won't interfere with your idiot plans. But don't contact me again. Stay out of my life. Give my regards to the boys- Oh, I'm sorry. Boy. Dean. My twin. Since I haven't seen the 'baby' of our family since he was a few months old. According to Dean, now he's apparently taller than me." She was shaking in anger by this point. "Go to hell, John Winchester."_

_More silence. Then she heard the stomp of footsteps as her father walked away, defeated for probably the first time in his life. She was to never see him alive again._

It was a conversation that she regretted the moment that it left her tongue. The repercussions, however, lasted for three years. Today they were all over, but Kath was empty inside. The plane took off and she placed sunglasses over her eyes, so that no one could see her silent tears. John Winchester was dead. And it may have been all her fault.

* * *

**Hello there! Forgive me, this is my first Supernatural story: As a newbie to the show (I've only seen 1 & 10/11ths of the entire show), I may not know exactly what will happen in the future, which should help shape my characterization at the moment. This story starts at the beginning of Season 2, but it will probably travel through time when needed. There will be three POV characters: Sam, Dean, and Kath, but I may add some randomness in the midst of it all. I'm not exactly sure where this story will take me, but I hope you stick around for the ride. I promise, all of your favorite characters will most likely make your way into this story (I haven't personally met Castiel or the other angels yet, so bear with my slow continuation with the show!). I hope you enjoyed! Please review (It really helps me continue on, and I need constructive criticism)!  
**


	2. Soccer Mom

**Dean's POV**

* * *

Dean Winchester sat in the car with his head pressed against the steering wheel. His dad was dead and his Impala was a pile of scrap metal, and he wasn't sure which was the greater tragedy... Alright, so he definitely knew which was the greater tragedy. Dad was gone, and it was all his fault. But sitting in an airport terminal in a minivan certainly didn't make him feel any better.

A leggy brunette exited the sliding doors, cell phone in hand and lugging a seemingly heavy bag behind her. Her suit/skirt outfit was a little too tight for a businesswoman of her obvious stature, but that didn't bother Dean. Figuring he should do something to help (and maybe get her number in the process), he jumped out of the car and headed her way, charming smile plastered over his face- Then stopped in the middle of the roadway, frozen by the repeating thought that had stricken him this entire day. Dad was dead. And it was all his fault. Cabs and buses honked from behind him, ready to run him over for standing in their way, but thankfully he got distracted.

"Dean! Get your sorry butt over here!" He shook himself from his stupor and looked up to see a young woman standing, arms crossed, at the doors the next archway over. She wore a black backpack over her shoulders and held a silver cane in her right hand. Her green eyes stared sightlessly forward, but that didn't hide the scowl she had on her face. Oh crap.

"Kath!" He called out, and she immediately turned in his direction. Blonde hair whipping in all directions as she found her way towards him, Dean couldn't help but grin at her scowl. "You know, keep looking like that and it may stay permanent." She punched him on the shoulder in response. "Hey! You may think you're so big and strong, little sis, but you still throw punches like a girl."

Kath managed a forced smile, dropped her belongings to the ground, and threw her arms around Dean's neck. "Are you alright?" she said into his ear, head resting on his shoulder.

Dean grimaced, but embraced her in return. Alright was not a good word at the moment. And possibly ever. "I shouldn't be alive, Kath."

She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. It always unnerved Dean when she did that; Kath may not be able to see his expression, but it always seemed like she knew what was going on in his head anyways. She placed her hands on his face and shut her eyes. "There's always a reason why we survive, Dean. You can't blame yourself; it'll tear you to pieces."

He gently moved her hands off his face. "Don't go all psychic on me; I already have Sammy to worry about."

She managed a smile at that. "It's not psychic, I'm just figuring out your facial expressions. You're becoming a little too easy to read, ass. Be careful that Sam doesn't see right now. How is he?"

"Showing a little more expression that this piece of metal. I don't blame him, though. He found him... Dad, I mean. Dead on the floor of his room. Doctor said that his heart stopped."

"But you don't think that."

"C'mon Kath. I was dying on my hospital bed, but then I miraculously recovered. Then Dad comes in, decides to finally tell me that he's proud of us and ... some other things, and half an hour later he has a 'heart attack'? Sam told me, he was perfectly healthy when I was brain-dead. Now Dad's dead, I'm alive, and we're all breaking pretty much every rule he's ever given us."

Kath rolled her eyes. "I've broken every rule Dad ever gave me anyways, except for the ones that kept me alive. I'm watching my father be cremated, Dean. It's the very least I can give him now. At least his spirit will be at peace with one less lie to worry about."

Dean bent over, picked up Kath's bag and slung it over his own shoulders, and handed her the cane. "I don't win arguments with you Kath. Not because I can't, but a blind girl yelling at a taller man is usually enough reason to ask too many questions, and I don't need to get arrested. Since technically I died a few hunting trips ago."

"Oh, there's definitely more than that, you- wait, what?"

"It's a long story."

"We have a long time to talk. Take me to the car; there's a list of things to talk about. Dad, Sam, and if we can get to it, your past deaths." She wrapped her free hand around her forearm and let him lead her to the parked car. She stopped in shock went they reached the van. "This isn't the car."

"The Impala's totaled. This was the only model I could rent on short notice. You've missed a lot."

"Dean..."

"Yes, I feel like a fucking soccer mom. This has been a really bad day, Kath. Now get into the car, you need to finally meet your baby brother."

She handed Dean her cane, lifted herself into the car, and stuck out her tongue at him.

"Bitch," he name-called, but the smallest of real grins managed to pass over his face.

"Asshole. Get behind the wheel, soccer mom."

* * *

By the time Dean and Kath pulled up to the boys' new hiding place, another secluded cabin in no man's land, Dean had managed to give her the highly edited versions of Dad's last hunt, the Yellow-Eyed Demon, Sam's weirdo premonitions, and the car crash. He hadn't mentioned Dad's final words to him, but had a feeling that Kath knew that he was keeping something from her. He didn't care much at the moment though; Kath barely knew Sammy. It was Dean's job to protect him, not hers. Knowing her, after the funeral, Kathleen Winchester would disappear into the shadows again. She'd been gone for three years; this time shouldn't be any different.

But the siblings knew better than that. This time, Sam would be part of the picture. This wasn't going to be a very happy family reunion.

"What am I supposed to tell him?" Dean heard Kath mutter under her breath and she felt the minivan pull up to the side of the cabin. "This shouldn't be happening; I shouldn't be here."

The front door of the cabin opened and Dean sighed. "Too late."

Sam Winchester walked out onto the porch, hands pocketed and eyes puffy. He looked awful, but Kath couldn't see that. She couldn't even see that he was outside. Dean opened the car door and climbed out, making his way to the porch. He figured she would appear when she was ready. Maybe softening the blow would make things a little easier for everyone.

"Sammy!" Dean called out, trying to keep his features light. What was he doing? John Winchester was dead and now Dean was stuck playing the happy medium between his siblings. This really was an awful day. "Sam, there's someone you need to meet."

Sam's brow crinkled, confused. "Dean, what are you thinking? We haven't even told Bobby that Dad's gone, but you brought some random girl up here? Look, I know you're a mess, you can't hide it as well as you'd like, but that doesn't mean-"

"Sam?" Kath had climbed out from the van now, using her cane and hearing to make her way toward the cabin. "Sam. It's really you, isn't it?" Kath seemed... awe-stricken. Coming here must've been harder than Dean had thought it would be. It was true; this was the one law of Dad's that Kath hadn't broken, until now.

_"Why can't I see Sammy again, Daddy?" Ten-year-old Kathleen sat on her father's lap, a ring twirling on her finger that she fiddled with as she stared up with cloudy green eyes at her father's face. The ring was a birthday present, recently unwrapped, but taken with a promise that she would not break for sixteen years. Dean sat on a chair a few feet away, admiring his own birthday present: a shining silver dagger. Most ten-year-olds would ask for Tonka trucks or a football. Dean was not like most ten-year-olds. _

_He paid attention to this conversation as well, while most children would be off testing their gift. He remembered it for the rest of his life._

_John kissed his daughter's forehead, wrapping her in a warm embrace. She smiled, but knew that her question had almost been evaded. "Daddy?"_

_John sighed, but didn't seem too disappointed in the repeated question. "Sammy doesn't know that I come to visit you, sweetheart. He doesn't remember you."_

_"You can tell him about me, though. He'll remember me then, right?"_

_John shook his head. "Sammy can't know about you, Kath. He's a smart little brother, like I told you, but there'll be a time when him knowing things will be bad. Him knowing about you could end up with you and him, and even Dean, hurt. You know about the bad things out there, right sweetie?"_

_Little Kath nodded, head facing down towards her ring now. She wasn't to know it, but it was silver-plated, with a large red gem at its center. "Yes sir. There are monsters everywhere. Sometimes I can tell where they are. But then I tell Missouri and they go away."_

_John kissed her head again. "You'll keep him safe, Kath, but you can't see each other. Can you do that? For the family?"_

_Little Kath looked away from her father, right into Dean's eyes. It was uncanny, because he hadn't made a sound since he had sat next to them. Then she smiled. "Yes sir."_

Kathleen moved up the stairs with a sudden grace, holding onto the jittery railing for support and guidance. She reached Sam and stood right before him, eyes wide but as always, unfocused. "It's really you."

Sam blinked twice. "You...you look incredibly similar to some old pictures I had a while back."

Dean groaned behind him. "You idiot, just say that she looks like Mom."

"Um, you look like our mother."

Kath managed a grin at that. "It's been noted in the past. Now, excuse me ahead of time, but I can't actually see you, so-" She placed her hands on his face and held them there, which resulted in much bugging of the eyes from Sam and a near smile for Dean. "Wow. Well, Dean was definitely lying." She pulled her hands away from him. "He's the better looking brother."

"Hey!"

"I'm saying it as it goes, Dean. He's taller and has better hair."

"Why you little-"

"I'm sorry," Sam interrupted the near argument. "But who exactly are you?"

Kath turned back to face him, a small smile on her face, but eyes sad. "Take a guess, Sammy. I think you've known since I got up here."

Sam shook his head, not daring to try to understand. "I'm sorry, but I really have no idea-"

"Sammy." Sam caught his brother's sad gaze and knew that his entire world was going to be flipped around on him. "This is my twin sister, Kathleen. Your older sister. She was Dad's biggest secret from you. I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

**There's a little bit of Dean. I was struggling to find a mix of his mindset at the time of John's death: this was a semi-easy chapter because anything could have happened between John's death and the pyre. Dean always seemed to be trying to kid himself as well as Sam during his mourning time; it figures his thinking processes are a little off. I hope you enjoyed. Please review!**


	3. Half-Truths

**Sam's POV**

* * *

Sam found himself seated on a thoroughly-ripped-to-shreds sofa in the cabin, staring at a blind young woman who was apparently his sister and a man he couldn't even recognize as his brother. His brain refused to make the connection, though. The woman, petite and blond and eerily resembling his long dead mother, sat in a chair opposite of him, fiddling with a silver ring on her right hand and staring forward. Her eyes were cloudy, but they gave her the appearance that she was attempting to stare into his soul. It was uncomfortable.

"Dean," he started, wringing his hands in an attempt to bring himself back to reality. His brother stood above the two reunited siblings, taking in the proceedings. Sam had nearly blown a gasket as Dean had, at first, tried to explain how Kathleen existed with terrible results. It was only when the girl had diplomatically suggested that they go inside and discuss this that the boys stopped arguing. The silence had become quite disconcerting, so Sam decided to speak first. "Look, I'm sorry... Kathleen? If I don't believe that I've had an older sister for over twenty years and haven't known about her until now, forgive me. It's...unnerving. Why haven't I been able to meet you? Why didn't I know that you even existed? We're all adults, for God's sake. I just need some answers, and I don't need the 'littlest brother' crap pulled on me right now."

Kath bit her lip nervously and looked away, but Dean spoke first. "You have to understand, Sammy. That night, the night Mom died... I managed to get you out without a scratch, but... I guess Dad just forgot about Kath. She got stuck in the fire, and he couldn't find a way back in. When the house blew out and firefighters barely managed to find a way in, they found Kath. There wasn't a burn on her, but-"

"I couldn't see anymore," Kath cut in softly. "The doctors said that ash got in my eyes, but no one could explain how I was even alive. It was his fault."

"Kath, don't say anything-"

"Why not, Dean? Sam's right; he's not a little kid anymore. He deserves the truth."

Dean sighed and leaned against the wall, looking away from his younger siblings. Sam readjusted himself, listening carefully as Kath continued her story. "Dad may have left me behind, but before everything went dark- You may think that this is crazy, but I can guarantee that it isn't. I remember every moment from that night: our last meal together, Dad kissing me goodnight, Mom's last words. They're all there. Maybe it has something to do with that being the last things I ever saw, but- I'm rambling. Anyways, I was stuck in the house, fire all around me. I was crying by that point, I had no clue what was going on. Next thing I knew, there was a man standing behind me. He was all in black, but I looked up and he smiled at me, and patted me on the head and I passed out. Next thing I knew, I was in a fireman's arms and then Dad's. When I woke up the next morning, my eyes were open, but everything was black."

"That still doesn't explain why I couldn't know that you even existed."

"Sam, I was blind. Taking a toddler and an infant on hunting trips was crazy enough, but trying to lug around a little girl who just found out that she may never see her family again? It was a disaster waiting to happen. When Dad first started hunting, he stayed in Lawrence, and we were all fine. Missouri, the psychic, she used to come and babysit us. But Dad's trips started to end up farther and farther away from Kansas. He wanted to take us all with him, but Missouri told him off for that. 'You can't take that poor child with you; it'll drive her crazy,' she used to say. She was right. Any sudden noise scared the heck out of me; I wasn't used to the new sense of hearing. I used to walk out of the house on overnight stays and just keep walking. I should've gotten hit by at least three different cars one night. I was impulsive and stubborn and scared to death, which are terrible traits for a hunter's kid to have. I would've gotten everyone killed and I was only a toddler. Dad knew that, so one day, the three of you packed up, and I was told to wave goodbye. I was only about four. The hope was that you boys would forget that I existed and it would be easier for Dad to search for Mom's killer."

"The only problem was," Dean interjected, "that I never forgot. You don't easily forget a twin sister, and three-year-olds have strange ways of saving memories. I asked Dad where Kat as every day for about a month, and he used to assure me that she was happy and safe, but we couldn't go back to visit her anymore. After one hunting trip about a year later, Dad sat me down and made me swear never to mention Kath in front of you, Sam. Something about keeping both of you safe."

"And if there's one thing Dad drilled into you," Sam managed to say, taking in the whole story with a grain of skepticism, "it's been to keep the family safe."

Dean nodded. "I'm not proud, but I did it. Dad eventually took me back to Kansas on our 7th birthday; he left you with Bobby that year. Kath didn't remember us, but I remembered her."

Kath rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for being cautious of the strange man and little boy at our door. Dad thought that I would recognize his voice. I didn't. Nearly gave Missouri a heart attack when I screamed for help."

"Oh, so that's what happened! Dad told me... well, he used to tell me that something went wrong at the first meeting, but I just figured it was something I had done wrong."

Kath managed a grimace at that and shook her head. "Nope, although I guess you could blame him for the entire incident. Anyways, that was the day we got reintroduced, Dad asked Missouri if there were any way to teach me how to hunt, at least to defend myself, and the rest was history."

Sam looked up, surprised. The sun was already setting under the tree horizon outside. But he still had a few questions. "Still, I learned how to defend myself. Dad took Dean and me hunting loads of times and we survived a ton of close calls. Why couldn't he have told me about you then?"

Kath started to answer, but Dean cut her off. "He was afraid that Kath might get hurt next. Don't let her scary demeanor fool you; she's a softie at heart."

"Ass," she muttered offhandedly. "I can take any demon that you can." But she knew that Dean had avoided the real answer all together. Anything to change the subject would be good at the moment. Then it hit her. "Where did you put Dad's body, Sam?"

"In the other room. It's a little more respectful than lying him on a kitchen counter."

"Dean?" Kath stood and reached out her hand. "Could you take me to him? Please, I want to say my own goodbyes before you light the pyre."

Dean took her hand into his and led her from the room into a smaller bedroom down the hall. Sam fell back against the couch, the gears in his head whirling. Dad dead, demon gone, sister from thin air: it was almost too much to handle. Dean ducked back into the room after a few seconds, his gaze averted. "I'm sorry, Sammy."

For once, Sam didn't try to pick a fight. "You always followed orders, Dean. I don't blame you, and I don't blame her. It seems like she's gone through the same shit that this whole family has been through, and probably worse. All I'm saying is: there's more to your twin than what meets the eye."

Dean nodded, face dark. "Couldn't agree with you more."

* * *

**Kath's POV**

* * *

Kath knelt beside her father's lifeless body, holding a cold, stiff hand with both of hers. "I should've come, Daddy," she began speaking to the corpse, her voice hardly above a whisper. "You called me. You told me that this was going to happen. I should've hopped on the next plane to this godforsaken city. I could've been here late last night and talked some sense into you. It was a stupid plan, don't you see? Dean's going to hate himself forever because of it and Sam will end up even more confused and lost and hurt." She sniffed, looking up toward the ceiling.

"I didn't come. I was a coward. A stupid, bitchy coward who thought that you were bluffing, that this was another ploy to bring me back into your life." The tears were welling up in her eyes now. "I should have come back! Not yesterday, not today. Years ago. The very second I yelled at you to leave my life. I didn't mean it Daddy, I didn't mean it!" Her voice was carrying now, and tears streamed down her face.

Then her tone softened once more. "I didn't mean it. And now I'm here, talking to your dead body, because you're gone. You're gone again, Daddy. I warned you, I told you, I couldn't stand you leaving. Leaving me behind while you and the boys went off on adventures without me. You called me Mary once, Daddy. You thought I was Mom. And that hurt us both, you know it. You couldn't have another of your girls getting hurt. But I wasn't Mom, Daddy. I was Kathleen. And Kathleen was blind, and scared, and needed a family. Missouri was a greater mama, but I wanted you back. Now I can never have you back." The tears stopped coming, but her heart couldn't stop aching. "I guess you win, Daddy. In the end, you always had the last word." She stood, dropped his cold hand, and made her way up to his head. She bent, placed a small kiss on his forehead, and sniffed again. "Goodbye Daddy."

* * *

**Dean's POV**

* * *

Dean lit the pyre that night. The boys had gathered all of the firewood while Kath found a suitable board to place their father on. He was dressed in his usual hunting gear, all weapons confiscated, of course. Kath sprinkled him with salt, Sam had the gasoline, and Dean lit the final match. Kath and Sam both let themselves cry freely, but Dean kept his jaw set and tears away. Sam asked him about Dad's final words, but Dean refused to give him the truth. Finally the three retired for the night, but Dean was the last one to leave. "Bye Dad," he muttered to the ashes under his breath, and then followed after his siblings. John Winchester was finally done hunting.

* * *

**Goodbye John. Thus ends the beginning of this story, and now the real fun can begin! :) Please review...Or follow...Or favorite. Any little thing helps!  
**


	4. Group Hugs and Peace Offerings

**Kath's POV**

* * *

The next day, the three Winchesters wasted no time waking up and attempting to pack again, Dean trying hopelessly to salvage weapons and supplies from his ruined car. Kath sat by the cabin window, listening to his idle curses as he rummaged through the remains, his tone growing darker and angrier as the morning passed. She frowned, wishing that there could be some way to comfort him, but knowing that it was impossible. No words were going to save Dean now.

She turned away from the window and looked upward, in the direction she knew that Sam was standing and staring at her. "It isn't nice to sneak up on a blind girl, Sam. I'd hoped that Dean and Dad would teach you some manners. Apparently, no such luck."

She heard him snort. "By the looks of things, you don't get sneaked up on very easily." He walked over to her and sat down beside her, pressing a mug into her hands. "I made coffee."

She took a whiff of the drink and nodded, steam floating into her face. "That you did. Nice and black; good way to start off the day." She took a quick gulp of the hot drink, then cupped the mug inside her palms. "Peace offering?" she took a guess at the reason for the kind gesture.

Sam chuckled. Kath had never heard such a happy sound; it was a shame that she doubted it came often. "I guess it is. Dean told me last night, you can't pick family. We can decide what we spend time doing with them, though."

"A philosopher, eh? No wonder you went to Stanford," Kath said, making sure to let it be known that she was joking with him.

"So, you've known about me this entire time?"

Kath nodded. "I guess you can say the last time I saw you, you were barely enough of a person to make a difference. Now you're a giant, considering the way you're craning your neck just to have a proper conversation with me." She managed an apologetic smile. "Loss of sight is really helpful to hearing; I can sense things before most people know they're even there."

"That's pretty helpful," Sam managed to say in response. She playfully nudged him in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable around her.

"Relax! I'm not gonna bite. Here, I'll tell you a little bit amount myself. Ask me anyhthing, I won't lie," she said, straightening her posture.

"Um... What happened the day you met Dad and Dean? The second time."

Kath grinned sheepishly. "Dad tried to just walk right into the house, but Missouri had taught me quite well. I tried to stab him with a silver knife she always had on the table by the doorway. Good thing Dad was faster than I was."

Sam managed a grin at that mental image. "You're kidding."

Kath bit her lip, but smiled happily. "Nope. I promised, no lies. Ask another."

Sam thought long and hard about the next question. "What do you remember about Mom?"

Kath's smile went stale at that point. "Not as much as I'd like. She had long, beautiful blonde hair, apparently the same shade that I have, although I couldn't tell you. She had a smile... Goodness, it lit up this world when she smiled. She hadn't smiled much before the fire, though. She smelt like lemons. And she loved all three of us kids so much; it showed in her eyes." Kath looked past Sam then, staring out into the distance. "Gosh Sam, way to darken the mood. How about something less likely to make me want to jump in a river?"

"Hmm... Favorite animal?"

"A dog. I had a seeing-eye dog for a while, actually. But they're killer expensive, and this one picked a fight with one demon too many."

"Yikes, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, the demon had it coming," she said, her tone light. "How about you, Sammy boy? You've been stuck with Dean all these months; how are you managing to survive with that idiot around?'

"You know Dean," Sam said with a hint of amusement. "He's about as ferocious as a kitten. Besides," he added, trailing off, "he really needs someone to look after him. He doesn't do this job well alone."

Kath nodded in agreement. "That's a truth if I've ever heard it. Take care of him, Sam. He'll lose it if you're not around."

"I don't know, he seems pretty relieved to have you around," Sam said, carefully questioning her motivations for sticking around. Kath only shook her head in return.

"I'm the expendable Winchester, if any. Always have been. You boys, however, are peas in a pod. Separating you could put everyone in danger. Besides, he loves you Sammy. It'd break his heart if his real family split up again."

"You left, though."

"Yeah, and he'll never forgive me for it. For all Dean cares right now, I'm not really part of the family anymore."

"What did you do?" he asked, a little too quickly to be polite. "Sorry, I guess it really isn't my business-"

"Na, you're alright," she replied, patting him on the knee. "Family business is everyone's business; the two of us should know better than anyone." A pause. "I got cocky. Three years ago, I tried going after a demon who was a lot stronger than me. It's what I do: demon hunting. Requires less sight and a little more skill to get rid of those damned things, and I was getting really good at it: for a blind girl, that is. I guess the bastards figured I had caught into their tail, and sent one after me to finish me off. I called Dad after I found out that it was after me, but he was busy halfway across the country with Dean." Kath turned back to the window again, staring out into a distance that she could never see. "He didn't come. The thing had me cornered and nearly killed me before I managed to send it back to the netherworld. Gave me this though," she lifted up her tank top to just over her belly button. A jagged, dark scar covered her across the abdomen. She dropped her shirt and continued. "Dad showed up in the hospital a week later. I was furious. You know how he was; old man never wanted to admit when he was wrong. I had told him that this one was too strong for me. He didn't believe it." She smirked. "Not many fathers think they're blind daughters can take on thousand-year-old demons, huh? I stormed out of the hospital with him on my tail and locked myself in my own apartment. He tried explaining things to me, but..." She trailed off.

"I'm guessing you both said some things you weren't proud of?" Sam asked, reading her mind.

She nodded. "You had already left for college, from what Dean told me. I figured, if one of us had the guts to leave Dad's mess behind, then maybe another of us did too." She sighed. "That's the last time I was near him. And I told him to go to hell." She sniffed, but her eyes stayed dry. "Dean should never have brought me here; it makes things more painful for all of us." She stood, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be gone from your life before you know it, Sam. If you want, you can forget I exist. I won't mind." She started walking away, but a hand grabbed hers from behind to stop her. She sensed him stand as well, a little brother now towering over her.

"You really are a Winchester, Kath," he said, releasing her. "Not many people can screw up as badly as we can." She managed a painful laugh, but he continued. "Come with us."

"What?"

"You heard me. Come with us. Dean doesn't hate you; if this were any other instance I think he'd be ecstatic to bring along. And we both know that he needs a reason to be happier right now."

"What about you, Sam? I'm pretty much a stranger; you don't really need me around."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Any person with the guts to have picked a fight with Dad is fine by my standards."

"God, if he had a grave, he'd be flopping over and over in it at the moment."

"I'm sure of it."

She reached out and wrapped her arms underneath his, pulling him in for a hug. "Thank you Sammy."

He drew away for a second, a joke in his voice. "I'm not sure you've earned the right to the nickname yet, though."

"Ass."

"Jerk."

"Bitch!" Dean's voice entered the building, a wooden door slamming behind him. "What?" He asked, receiving both of their pointed stares. "I thought we were practicing cussing. Remember Sammy, when you were about eight-"

"I was scarred for life, Dean."

"Exactly," Dean replied, the hidden joke lightening his mood. "Aww, are you two finally making up? This calls for a family gathering. Group hug!" Both Sam and Kath attempted to split in opposite directions, but Dean was faster, hooking Kath around the neck and Sam by the arm. He forced the three of them into close quarters, each of the younger siblings struggling.

"Gosh, Dean, how old are you, ten?"

"Eleven, actually, little sis, but thanks for counting."

"Dean, get your dirty hands off of me-"

"Aw c'mon Sammy. It's family bonding time- Ow!"

Sam managed to headbutt Dean and the same time Kath elbowed him, sending them all flying in different directions. Kath landed against the couch, Sam the windowsill, and Dean the countertop. "Shit!"

It was a unanimous curse, and the three Winchesters realized it seconds after it occurred. Kath was the first to laugh, but the boys soon joined in. For the first time in years, Kath Winchester felt at home.

A knock on the front door, however, completely ended the happy mood. Kath heard the cocking of a shotgun and the drawing of a knife, but Kath raised her hands in a peace gesture. "Calm down boys; it's just a human. I'll get the door."

She walked steadily to the entrance, hands in front of her to avoid any walls she might accidentally run into, and opened the door. The figure outside was taller and broader than her, but the voice was the most familiar. "Kathleen?"

Kath gasped, then flung out her arms, wrapping them around her old friend. "Bobby!" She said, feeling like a child again when he lifted her off the ground. "It's you!"

"It sure is, sweetheart," Bobby said gruffly, placing her down. "What are you doing here?"

"I invited her," Dean called out from inside the house, brushing past Kath to give their friend a hug. Sam followed him outside, but stayed standing behind Kath.

"I should've known you idjits would be breaking all the rules as quickly as possible. Still, I'm real sorry about your dad, kids. John was a good man, even if his actions were usually moronic."

"You can say that again," Sam agreed, passing Kath after Dean returned to her side to greet Bobby. "Thanks for coming, Bobby."

"Wait, you invited him?" Dean questioned.

"You had your secret phone calls, I had mine. We need a ride with the Impala ruined and the stolen van won't stay a secret for long."

Kath groaned. "You could have stolen any random car, and it had to be a minivan?"

"I've got the tow truck outside, already running. Grab your things, kids. You really screwed that car of yours over, Dean," Bobby added. "Go hook it up and we'll be on our way." He turned back to Kath and ruffled her hair. "It's good to have you back in the game, kiddo."

Kath grinned. "I'm glad to be back." Bobby left the porch with Dean, but Sam stayed behind to help Kath grab their belongings.

"When did you meet Bobby?" he asked, and Kath paused a second before answering.

"Missouri taught me to find the supernatural, but it was Bobby who took me on my first hunt. He had a little more faith in my usefulness as a hunter."

"What did you get? The first time you went hunting, that is."

Kath smirked. "That's a story for the ride, little brother."

* * *

**And here's Bobby! Writing from the view of someone who can't see what is going on around her and can only "sense" is hard!**

**The Roadhouse is next chapter, stay tuned. And please review: I know how hard it is for writers to stay motivated, and it really does help!  
**


	5. Everybody Loves a Clown

**Kath's POV**

* * *

Kath strolled through Bobby's junkyard, cane in hand. The three Winchesters had spent the last week at Bobby's place, where Dean had attempted to fix the Impala and slunk further into varying degrees of grief, Sam had watched his brother fall further and had no idea how to help him, and Kath listened to the entire problem while coping in her own way. Sometimes being stuck in her own head really did her in, and listening to her brothers bicker like five-year-olds didn't really help matters. They were arguing now. Sam wanted to know why Dean wouldn't talk to him, and Dean wanted Sam to remember that he wasn't Dad's favorite son and didn't need to act like he had something to prove. Of course, neither of the boys actually knew how to word their frustration to each other. This was just Kath's interpretation of the entire mess, and she knew that she was right. Boys would be boys.

However, she also knew that Sam also had a practical reason for speaking to Dean, and she managed to reach them just as he got to his point.

"Ellen?" She asked, acting like she had no idea what they were talking about. "Dad used to mention her. I have an address, if you need to meet her."

Both boys turned to her, and she could nearly picture the surprise on their faces. Being able to move about silently really did have its perks. "Who is she?"

Kath kept her eyes wide and innocent. "Dangerous figure, from what I've heard. C'mon, go ask Bobby for a car. Of course, I'm assuming your baby's still-"

"Out of commission," Dean cut in, his voice grim.

"I figured," she replied. "Anywho, what are we waiting for? It's been a week, and not meaning to be disrespectful, but you both need to get out of this place before you kill each other."

Dean smirked. "How long have you been listening in on our conversations?"

"All week. I'm about to shoot myself just to rid myself of the headaches. Or maybe I should shoot you too instead..."

"Are you even allowed to hold a firearm?" Sam asked, confused.

She cocked a hip in response, a small pistol attached to her waist. "You'd be surprised what they let blind people do nowadays."

"Really?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I don't have a frickin' license, Sam. This is just reassurance that if I got stuck in a fire fight, I won't end up with a bullet in my head."

"Good point. But can you-"

She flipped out the pistol, loaded it within a second, then aimed the firearm. She pulled the trigger and knew it hit its target; the head of a snake twenty feet away from them. She unloaded the gun and stood, a hand on her hip. "Did I hit it?"

Dean didn't say a word. Sam opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come.

"I thought so. Go get a car; it's time to head to the Roadhouse."

* * *

"I can't believe this," Dean complained. Kath settled herself in the back seat as Sam took shotgun.

"Soccer mom," she teased in a sing-song voice.

"Really Kath, just shut it."

"I haven't had the chance to play annoying little sister in two decades, Dean. Forgive me," she said, although her tone was anything but forgiving.

"Why are we bringing you along again?"

"Because I have the directions. And I could shoot you if I got left behind."

"Excellent point!" Sam interrupted, leaning over to talk to Dean. "I really would rather not get shot."

The 'new' minivan started up with a rumble as Dean turned the car keys, and he groaned to himself. His dignity had just fallen about a thousand miles south. And perhaps his man card as well.

The ride took a little over two hours, and the boys were already asking questions as they pulled up. "Is there even anyone here?" Sam asked.

"Kath, this place is in the middle of nowhere," Dean mentioned, and Kath nodded.

"Don't worry, we're in the right place. You two go on ahead, make sure the place is cleared out. I don't exactly like walking into a place without knowing what it's like."

"I thought you'd been here?" Dean questioned, but Kath shook her head.

"Dad just gave me directions. Only come in dire circumstances, the usual crud."

"And I thought my little sister was the brave one," Dean said offhandedly.

"Don't make fun of the blind girl, Dean. It's rude."

Dean made a face at Sam, mocking her. Sam smirked.

"Boys..." Kath threatened, and they were suddenly out of the car.

Kath relaxed in the car, knowing that it would take a while for Jo and Ellen to deal with their visitors. Then she exited the car, not even bothering to lock to door behind her (Who would want to steal that hunk of metal crap?), and entered the dinner. Sure enough, Ellen and Jo were already giving the boys a talking to, and Kath walked through the front door laughing. "Please tell me you gave Dean a black eye, Jo," she said, and heard the two women gasp.

"Kathleen Winchester," Ellen reprimanded with that wonderful country drawl of hers. "You would send these two in here alone."

Kath grinned. "Always good to get the proper Roadhouse greeting. Besides, it's best not to associate myself with them; they keep getting me into trouble."

A pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her, and Kath embraced her friend in response. "Hey Jo," she said. "How'd you treat my brothers?"

"Roadhouse hospitality," Jo responded. "They broke in, had to put a gun to your brother's back."

"Wait just one minute!" Dean finally interrupted. "You knew they were here the entire time?"

"Of course I did, Dean. Don't be ridiculous, I wouldn't miss out on any real action for the world. Sorry about the mess, Ellen; they're pretty good at what they do, even if they tend to destroy a lot of stuff in their way."

"Was that a compliment or an insult?"

"Both, Sammy, and take it as such."

"Speaking of you being here, Kath," Ellen said. "Where's your Daddy? He wouldn't have sent the three of you unless he had something more important than the demon to deal with, and that's not really possible-" She paused. "Your dad didn't send you, did he?"

Kath bit her lip and glanced down, but Sam answered Ellen's question, shaking his head. "The demon got him before he got it."

Silence. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We're alright," Dean said, sounding anything but alright.

"Really? I know how close you and your dad were-" Ellen started.

"Really, lady. I'm fine."

"Dean..." Kath said, although quietly. He didn't need to be rude to Ellen; she was trying to help. She knew enough about Ellen's personal problems with her father to know that he shouldn't snap at her, of all people.

"Wait," Sam said. "You can help us? Find the demon, that is."

"Nope," Ellen said matter-of-factly. "But Ash can."

"Ash?" Sam asked.

"Hey, Ash!" Jo hollered, and Kath heard the tell-tale creak of an object, or person, moving on the pool table.

Kath stood in the corner as Ash introduced himself to the boys and set to work. He really was a genius, despite Sam and Dean's incredulous mutterings as he set to work with Dad's information. Sam was put to work reading a case file that Ellen handed him, and she could already hear Dean's failed attempts to flirt with Jo. That girl needed to get out of the Roadhouse; she was a darn good hunter, even if her mother didn't approve. Heck, Kath could've sworn that her mother wouldn't have approved of her hunting either, and it was even worse for a blind daughter.

Actually, she had no idea how she did it. One day she was an innocent little girl, playing with dolls and learning how to cope with the fact that she would never see again. Next thing she knew, she was running around with guns and knives, tracking creatures that weren't even human and killing them... She didn't know whether it was a thrill, revenge-driven, or just a way to get through life.

Before she knew it, she was asking Ellen for a beer and settling herself at the bar, chatting it up with Jo for old times' sake. Jo was one of the few hunter girls she knew around her age; they respected each other, and had never once doubted the other's potential. They couldn't really say that they were friends; Kath had only passed through the Roadhouse a few times, since most of her work had been done on the East Coast, but Kath knew that Jo knew her better than probably anyone else alive, except maybe Bobby and Missouri. They read each other remarkably well.

Sam tried to convince Kath to come along with them on their hunt a few miles away, but she shrugged him off, using some excuse to stay the next few nights and help Ash with his work. She knew that Ash would have no need for her, but Sam didn't, and the boys left about an hour later. Kath stayed at the bar, helping herself to another beer and talking with other hunters that passed by her, getting information from all over and trying to relax herself. She'd been too wound up in her own head at the moment, dealing with Sam and Dean and her dad's death. She'd held it together, for her brothers' sakes, but inside she felt like she was forcing herself down a path she'd never return from. She really shouldn't have come near the boys. She should have left.

She almost did leave, nearly gathering up the courage to hitch a ride from a hunter she knew to be traveling east. Then she remembered Sam, mentioning that Dean, under any other circumstances, would usually be thrilled to see her. And Sam, dear Sammy, a sweetheart who had no idea how much trouble she could cause him, had asked her to stay. He'd always wanted a sister. Now he finally had one.

"Jo," she said across the bar, pulling her friend away from whatever hunter was trying to flirt his way into her pants. "Hey, is there any place I could stay nearby? Until Dean and Sam get back." She chuckled to herself. "I really didn't think this one through, and-"

Jo grabbed her hand. "That, and you've had one beer too many. C'mon, Kath, I'm sure my mom has a bunk that you can rest on. You may have kitchen duty tomorrow morning, though."

Kath smiled, thankful. "Better kitchen duty than a night under the trees. Thanks Jo."

"Hey, anything for a friend."

Hmm. Maybe they were friends after all.

* * *

**This will the be the first in a series of chapters based on the events that actually took place in Supernatural Season 2. Don't worry, I'm not doing every chapter, just ones relevant to Kath and the plot. Hope you like! Reviews are always welcome, with criticism or praise.  
**


	6. Bloodlust

**Kath's POV**

* * *

The boys returned from the job (something to do with clowns that had freaked Sam out), alive and mostly in one piece. After they went over Ash's new intel, the three Winchesters said their goodbyes and returned to Bobby's. She could tell that giving the two 'alone time' had been a rotten idea; they had another big, rowdy argument only a few days later. The only problem was that Sam's words really got to Dean this time. She ran out to find him slamming a heavy metal object into the Impala, enraged and tired and hurt and grieving. There were no words required that evening; Kath just wrapped her arms around him and didn't let go. It was a hug, but more than that. It was an anchor, holding Dean into place as he tried, so very, very hard to cope with the fact that Dad was gone, and this time, he would never come back.

It only took about a week for Dean to finish his car, but this trip Kath insisted joining her brothers. It was about time that they hunted together. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten how much she'd have to put up with to get the job done.

"Whoohoo!" Dean shouted into the wind...er, car, speeding down the highway. "Listen to her purr! Ever heard anything so sweet?"

"You know, if you two want to get a room," Sam said, exasperated, "just let us know."

"Oh, don't listen to him baby," Dean said, patting his car. "He doesn't understand us."

"No one does, Dean," Kath said from the backseat. "Although at least you're in a good mood."

"Why shouldn't I be? I've got my car, got a case. Things are looking up!"

"God, never thought I'd listen to you get so excited over severed heads and mutilated cows."

"Never underestimate my way of thinking, little sister. How far to Red Lodge, Sammy?"

Sam struggled with the map in his hands before answering. "Um, around three hundred miles."

"Good." He floored the accelerator, speeding on down the road.

Less than five hours later, the Winchesters found themselves in Montana, heading for the sheriff's station, Kath wrapped around Dean's arm. The boys wore their customary suits, while Kath managed to pull off a business woman's black skirt and white blouse outfit.

"This is a very bad idea," Sam muttered to himself, but Kath waved away his argument.

"Relax, the chief won't give me a second glance."

"You're a blind woman working for a newspaper!"

Kath rolled her eyes, pulling a pocket-sized metal object from the clutch in her opposite hands. "Blind woman's PDA. Had a friend build this for me a couple of years ago. Like I said, not a second glance."

She had been right. Besides the funny look that the secretary gave the siblings as they introduced themselves as reporters, which, of course, Kath couldn't see, they had no problem sitting down with the sheriff and asking a few questions. Kath kept silent, for the most part, jotting down notes as the boys asked questions.

When Sam began asking about the cattle mutilations, however, Kath couldn't help but cringe. That was not a good way to phrase the question.

"There's no such thing as cattle mutilation," the aggravated sheriff told Sam. "Cow drops, leave it in the sun, within forty eight hours the bloat will split it open so clean it's just about surgical. The bodily fluids fall down into the ground and get soaked up because that's what gravity does. But, hey, it could be Satan. What newspaper did you say you work for?"

"World Weekly News," Dean said a little too quickly, and Sam breathed out slowly as Kath nearly facepalmed.

"Weekly World News," they corrected their older brother in unison.

"Weekly...I'm new," Dean tried to explain, before the sheriff stood from his desk.

"Get out of my office."

Kath managed an apologetic smile, holding her hand out to the sheriff's. "Thank you for your time, sir."

They couldn't get out of that office quickly enough.

Dean and Sam entered the morgue on their own first, though. Kath knew that she couldn't pull off 'blind nurse', as much as she'd like to try. The poor intern on duty rushed off on whatever fake job her brothers had given him, then Kath took her chance and followed the boys into the morgue.

"Open it."

"You open it."

"Boys, boys," Kath reprimanded. "Can't we all just get along?"

"Not with you around, Kathy," Dean said, and Kath cringed.

"Please, never call me Kathy. Open the box, Dean."

"Wuss," he muttered, but she listened as the lid flipped off and the smell of decay entered the room.

"Yuck."

"Well, no pentagram," Dean said. "So this wasn't the satanists' doing."

"Wow. Poor girl," Sam said regretfully.

"Actually, not so poor girl," Kath countered. "That isn't a human. Check her mouth, Sam."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Dean opened the box."

Sam grumbled, but eventually stuck his hand inside her mouth. "Dean, get me a bucket."

"What?" Dean asked, surprised. "You find something?"

"No, I'm going to puke."

"Wait!" Dean said, stopping Sam. "Lift her lip up again."

"Do you want me to hurl all over you?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I saw something." A pause as Sam rummaged around her mouth again. "Is that, a hole?"

"I knew it," Kath said, eyes wide. "She's not human, right?"

"You're right Kath," Dean said, as Sam pulled something from the hole. "That's a fang."

"Oh great," Sam said sourly. "Can I get my hands out of its mouth, then?"

* * *

"Stay out here Kath," Dean said, slamming the door of his car.

"There are vampires roaming around this town! It's not exactly safe to sit around alone outside, Dean."

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly safe for us to walk inside a bar with a blind girl. Stay here."

"Oh c'mon! I could totally pull off a delirious girlfriend, no questions asked," she complained, although she wasn't really trying to win this argument. She could see that he was talking sense, for once in his life. She wasn't about to admit it, but Dean was one of the best hunters she had ever known, besides Dad and Bobby.

"Stay girl."

"I'm not a puppy, Dean."

He laughed instead, helping her out of the car but leaving her standing there. "If you want, keep an ear out for trouble."

She mocked his words as he turned away, but stayed mostly silent as the street filled with noise when the boys opened the doors of the bar, then faded away.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and a pair of footsteps passed by Kath in the alley. Two more sets sped past the car, but Kath hadn't sensed anything. Rolling her eyes, she unfolded her cane and followed after them.

"Show us those pearly whites," she heard Dean threaten the guy he and Sam had against the wall as Kath turned the corner.

"Oh, for the love of- you want to stick that thing someplace else?" The man said, sounding almost as annoyed as Kath was. "I'm not a vampire."

"What?" Sam asked.

"He's right," Kath called from behind him, leaning against the wall. All three of the men turned in her direction. "He's not a vamp. You can let him go."

"What do you know about vampires?" Sam questioned, still not through with their captive.

"How to kill them," the guy said matter-of-factly. "Now seriously, bro. That knife's making me itch." Kath heard a body slam against the wall, and the unfamiliar groan. "Ouch. Look." A pause. "See? Fangless. Now will you please let me go?" A stumble as Dean released the man to the ground. "Now, who the hell are you?"

Dean introduced themselves as Kath found her way over to meet their new ally. She leaned against Sam's shoulder, arms crossed. She'd met enough hunters to know that not all of them were as friendly as her family.

"Name's Gordon. Gordon Wallker. Damn, you're the Winchesters? I've heard a lot about you guys, apparently you really fill your old man's shoes. Sorry that he passed, he was a great hunter. Didn't know there was a sister, though."

Kath shrugged her shoulders. "I've been estranged for a while," she said in way of an explanation.

She could nearly feel Gordon's eyes burning through her as he looked her up and down, scouting for weakness. "I can see that."

"You seem to know a lot about our family," Dean cut in.

"You know how it is with hunters," Gordon explained. "Word travels fast."

"Actually, no, we don't."

"Dang, there's a lot your dad never told you, huh?"

Kath scowled. She didn't like the way Gordon spoke. At all. "So, you're the one who got the vamps?"

She wasn't sure, but she guessed that Gordon nodded. "Been here two weeks."

"Where's the nest then?" Sam asked.

"Look," Gordon said, sounding a bit annoyed with the situation. "I guess you three work things differently, but I more of the go-it-alone type. I've tracked this group all the way since Austin, I've got it covered."

"Aw, c'mon man," Dean nearly complained. "I've been itching for a hunt."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Gordon said, climbing into his car. "It was real good meeting you, though. I'll buy you a drink on the flip side."

The engine gunned and the three Winchesters backed off as Gordon sped away. Kath turned in Dean's direction. "Please tell me that we can follow after him."

"Of course we're following after him. Go get in the car."

They trailed Gordon for about fifteen minutes, when Dean slowed the Impala to a halt.

"Where are we?" Kath asked, semi-oblivious to their surroundings. She could smell metal and wood and heard machines running, but that didn't explain much.

"Some sort of wood mill," Sam answered her, climbing out of the car.

"I'm coming with you," Kath said, before the boys had any time to protest.

"Kath," Sam whispered, arming himself with a machete from the trunk, then handing his sister a knife of her own. "How could you tell? That Gordon wasn't a vampire, but the headless girl was? I thought you can't see."

Kath shrugged. "Call it my sixth sense...Or rather the fifth, seeing as I'm missing that anyway. I can't see people, or things, or places, but I can always see the outlines of monsters. I guess it's pretty much the only reason I can hunt; they show up everywhere to me. They sort of...glow, I guess."

"That's a pretty sweet gift for a hunter."

"Yeah, well," Kath said, speaking like it was no big deal, "I'd rather be able to see everything, but that's not going to happen. I'm going to follow every move you make until I see the damned thing, Sammy, so don't go jumping around places I can't walk."

Sam smirked. "Ma'am, yes ma'am."

"That's the spirit," she teased, before Dean interrupted them.

"Hurry up ladies, we have a vamp to behead."

"See, there's the problem," Sam muttered to her as they followed behind him. "If it were just me around, he'd at least give me a respectable nickname. But with you here, he's just gonna call me a girl until the end of time."

Kath chuckled lightly. "See, I am a girl, so it won't ever bother me. There goes my chance for sympathy."

"Oh shush Kath."

"You're the one who started it."

A bird call passed through the room: Dean's predetermined signal to shut the hell up. They all paused, waiting, as they listened to Gordon's shout as he attacked his prey, only to become a shout of terror.

"Damn," Kath said, following in Sam's wake. "He's a clever one."

They rushed out of the inside of the mill, and Kath heard a power saw switch on. Gordon screamed (to Kath's delight, like a little girl), and Kath saw the vampire for herself. He held a body, presumably Gordon's, near the saw; at least, Kath could see the vamp's outline, grasping at something, holding it above the ground. Gordon's shouts and the sounds of the saw kind of helped her figure out what was going on. Sam and Dean gave shouts of their own, and Kath aimed for the vampire, machete in hand. She heard Sam grunt as he yanked Gordon from the vampire's grip, and managed a glancing blow of her own, going for the left as Dean aimed for the right. Unfortunately, her next blow was forseen. She watched in terror as the vampire grabbed both of her arms in midair, lifted her, and threw her like a sack of potatoes. She cried out in pain when she slammed into a bunch of wooden boxes. Well, at least it wasn't a metal wall.

She heard Dean yell behind her, a few punches fill the air, and a scream from the vampire. The power saw made the strangest _squelching_ sound, and Kath sat up, clutching her head, just to see the vampire's aura flicker and die. Great. Back to everlasting darkness.

She heard footsteps walk over to her, and held out her hand. A rough grip, not either of her brother's, helped her to her feet.

"Well," Gordon said, turning back to the boys. "I guess I gotta buy you that drink."

Kath heard Dean breathing heavily, and suddenly she realized that he must have decapitated that thing alone...and a little too slowly. She staggered forward, her hand on Gordon's shoulder, until she bumped into Sam. Then she immediately switched over to him.

"Lead the way, boys," Kath said, her tone dark but her voice shaky. "I could use a hell of a drink right now."

Less than half an hour later the Winchesters found themselves settled in the previous bar. Kath was relieved that she could finally be inside it for once, handy retractable cane back in one hand and a beer in the other. Gordon had paid for their drinks, but she really wasn't up for chatter, although Dean and Gordon were hitting off like old chums.

"You gave that big-ass fang one hell of a haircut, my friend," Gordon laughed.

"Thank you," Dean replied, full-of-himself as ever.

Sam, of course, wasn't buying any of this, Kath could sense it. His drink was swirling around in its bottle, nearly untouched. He was almost radiating awkwardness, which Kath could understand; he had been exactly like this when she first met him too.

"That was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." What, did this guy have a crush on Dean now? Gordon was laying it on pretty thick. Her brother could do better.

"You all right, Sammy?" Finally. Even Dean wasn't a total loss when it came to reading body language.

"I'm fine." No, he was definitely not fine, Dean. Dump this loser and let's go hunt some fangs ourselves!

"Well, lighten up a little, Sammy," Gordon cut in.

Oh no he didn't. "They're the only ones who get to call me that." Kath smirked to herself. Yay, she was included in the exclusive 'Sammy' club.

"Okay, no offense meant." Now Gordon was on the defensive, protect-me-Dean side. Kath felt like barfing, figuratively, of course.

"How about you, sweetheart? How long have you been hunting?"

"Please don't give me nicknames either; you called our waitress the same thing, and I want no association with someone you attempted to flirt with." Kath wasn't having anything with his crap. "I've been a hunter as long as these suckers, except I've done it alone until now."

"Well, well, well," Gordon continued, apparently not very insulted by her. "A prodigal daughter come home. How does it work with the...impairment?"

"I try not to run into any walls, works the same way with or without eyes. Call me a demon hunter, if you're the badass vampire one. And no, I'm not really the prodigal daughter, that's more of _Sammy's_ division."

"Damn, girl," Gordon said, leaning back on his chair. "You've got more attitude than these two combined."

"I like to pride myself on it. Speaking of which, excuse me boys, I need to order something a little stronger. I don't exactly enjoy decapitations." Kath stood, unsnapped her cane, and made her way to the bar. She needed something much stronger if she was going to put up with Gordon for the night.

Sam left only a couple minutes later, after Gordon told him to have "more fun with the job." Dean had agreed with him, which only added to Sam's near resentment of the new ally. Kath stayed by the bar, away from the guys and their 'man-talk', although it was really just them reliving their first hunts. Boys.

Dean thought she couldn't hear him, but she could. When he started talking about Dad. How much it was tearing him apart inside. How he felt like he had to stay strong, for her, but mostly for Sam. She didn't blame him. But Gordon's advice just didn't sit right with her. Hunting... It couldn't just be about vengeance 24/7. You needed to want to do it because you wanted to save other's lives, not because you needed to destroy things. Otherwise the hole was just going to get even worse.

Then Gordon started dissing Sam, and Kath felt her blood begin to boil. Sam was different, sure, but his reluctance kept Dean sane. She had seen it, figuratively speaking. A word from Sam could calm Dean down, a command from Dean kept Sam alive. They worked perfectly together, better than she had ever known. Sam's heart kept Dean good. And killing wasn't in Dean's blood. She'd known it since they were toddlers. Saving his siblings was. Hunting was just a perk for him. A grand, sexy, blood-spilling perk.

When Gordon began speaking about her, though, Kath nearly laughed aloud. This guy was a sexist pig; no other way to put it. He started asking Dean if she was physically capable of killing monsters, and not even from the "she-can't-see-it-so-how-does-she-kill-it" standpoint. He asked if she knew how to handle weapons. It amused Kath to know that she could shoot him dead from sitting ten-feet away, all by using the sound of his voice as a target. She'd practiced for years; she was more capable than this SOB could ever imagine. And if she failed, she could always snap his neck. Easy prey.

She stumbled her way over to the boys, pretending to be a little tipsier than she could actually be. She snuck a wink at Dean when she knew Gordon was turned away, and was rewarded with a snort from her older brother when she started questioning Gordon's hunting methods very obnoxiously. Dean apologized for her half an hour later, back at the motel, as she took a shower. Idiot. He really should know by now that she could hear _everything._

"I'm going to go take a walk," Kath said, exiting the bathroom with clean hunting gear. "Sam should've been back by now."

"Are you sure that's a good-" Gordon stopped talking as Kath fixed him with a death glare.

"I'm going to go look for my brother. Objections?" The men were completely silent. "Good."

Turns out, she didn't need to go far. She went to open the door but someone was already outside and slammed it into her. She cursed aloud.

"Oh, sorry Kath!" Sam apologized.

"We'll talk about this later."

"Actually, that's the thing," Sam said, his voice anxious. Where had he been? "Can I talk to you and Dean... alone?"

Dean made excuses to Gordon and the three walked outside, Kath at Sam's shoulder.

"We need to rethink this hunt," were Sam's first words.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, appalled.

"Where were you?" Kath asked at the same time, shooting Dean a glare. Talk about bad questions.

"In the nest," Sam said, semi-nervous as to what their reactions would be.

"You found it?" The Winchester twins said in unison.

"They found me."

"How'd you get out?" Kath asked.

"How many did you kill?" Dean asked.

"None... They just let me go."

"Really?" Kath said, surprised. Vampires weren't usually very forgiving. And they had just decapitated their buddy.

"Okay then, where is it?" asked Dean, ever the one to stay on task.

"I was blindfolded, I don't know."

"You gotta have something, Sammy."

"Dean, listen. Maybe we shouldn't go after them."

"You're joking."

"Listen!" Sam explained about the cattle mutilations, and the vampires' requests to be left alone so they could leave town. Dean was still apprehensive, but Sam reminded him that he was still here unharmed. It was only when Dean said that he was still going after them that Kath cut in.

"He's right Dean; our job's about hunting evil. If these vampires aren't hurting people, you can't really call them evil."

"Oh yes I can," Dean said, not listening to a word. "Gordon's been on these vamps for a year, he knows what's going on."

"Gordon?" Sam said, incredulous. Kath muttered under her breath. "You're taking his word for it?"

"That's right."

"Ellen says he's bad news, man."

"You called Ellen?" Dean asked. "And I'm supposed to listen to her. We barely know her. Sam, I'm going with Gordon."

"You may hardly know her," Kath said. "But trust me, whatever Ellen's saying should go; she's seen a lot of hunters pass through the Roadhouse, and not all of them are as cute and cuddly as you two. Besides, Dean, Gordon's not exactly an old friend either."

"You think I don't see what this is?" Sam asked Dean, and Kath nearly had to stand between the two. This wouldn't be good.

"What are you talking about?"

"He's a substitute for Dad, isn't he? A poor one."

"Shut up, Sam."

"He's not even close, Dean. Not even on his best day."

"You know what?" Kath felt Dean turn away and begin to walk, so she stood off to the side. "I'm not even going to talk about this."

"You know, you slap on this big fake smile, but I can see right through it," Sam started saying, and Dean and Kath both stopped in their tracks. "Because I know how you feel, Dean. Dad's dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can't take it, but you can't just fill up that hole with whoever you want to. It's an insult to his memory."

Kath heard Dean breathe in deeply, turning back to his brother. "Okay." That tone was not good.

"Dean-" Kath started to say, but it was too late. He had turned back and punched Sam in the face. Kath nearly cried out, unable to actually see what was going on, but stood back. She wasn't about to stand in between a fistfight with two grown men, even if they were her squabbling brothers.

There was a pause, and Sam sniffed. "You can hit me all you want. It won't change anything."

"I'm going to that nest," Dean said, anger still in his voice. "You don't want to tell me where it is, fine. I'll find it myself." Then he stalked off, brushing past Kath and nearly shoulder-checking her.

"Dean!" Kath called after him. "That wasn't the best way to handle things," she told her younger brother, grabbing onto his arm as he passed her too.

"I'm sorry you had to listen to that, Kath."

She stopped walking, making Sam pull to a stop. "Do that again, and I will handcuff you two together. That way I won't have to worry about getting hit with a flying punch." She released him then followed after Dean himself, trailing in his footsteps.

"Gordon?" She heard Dean shout in the motel room.

Kath grumbled to herself. "Great. He's gone, isn't he?"

"You think he went after them?" said Sam from the doorway.

"Probably," Dean said, ignoring the gaze of his little brother.

"Dean, we have to stop him."

"Really, Sam? Because I say we lend a hand."

"Will you two both just quit trying to bite each other's faces off for two seconds?" Kath said above the madness. "Give Sam the benefit of the doubt, Dean."

"You owe me that."

"Yeah, we'll see," Dean said, not really agreeing. "I'm driving though. Give me the keys."

Silence. "Don't tell me-" Kath said.

"Gordon took the keys," Sam finished her worst thoughts.

They sat in the car a few minutes later, Kath leaning against the window as Dean attempted to hotwire his own car. Sam gave Dean the directions like he'd memorized them off the back of a cereal box, and Dean managed to half-compliment him. It was a start. Those two really could be asses to each other, but they couldn't really hold grudges apparently.

The car ride was tension-filled and quite uncomfortable. Kath half-wanted to knock the boys' heads together and make them apologize, but they couldn't fight very well with concussions.

"He's here," Sam said as they pulled up to their destination and all three climbed out of the car. Kath walked right behind Sam, following in his footsteps. Trailing Sam was becoming a worse and worse idea; the guy's strides were about as long as a panther's.

Kath heard the vampire before she saw it, screaming in pain. What the hell was Gordon doing? She soon saw for herself; the vampire writhed in pain as Kath watched something trail across her chest, burning its way through the vampire's skin.

"Sam, Dean, Kathleen. Come on in," Gordon said, acknowledging their presence.

"Hey, Gordon. What's going on?" Even Dean seemed uneasy at their position.

"Just poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood. She's going to tell us where all her little friends are, aren't you? Want to help?" Gordon said. Yep, Kath had been right. This guy was a nutcase.

"Look, man-" Dean cut in, only to be interrupted himself.

"Grab a knife. I was just about to start in on the fingers." The vampire, a woman, cried out in pain yet again as he dragged the knife up her forearm. Kath went for her own blade, but it wasn't to use on the girl.

"Whoa whoa whoa, let's all just chill out, okay?" Dean said, grabbing Kath's arm. Finally, her brother had some sense knocked into him. This was just sick.

"I'm completely chill," Gordon said, laying his knife against Lenore's skin and cutting again.

"Gordon," Sam commanded. "Put the knife down.

There was another beat as Dean put up a hand to keep Sam from moving.

"Sounds like it's Sam here who needs to chill."

"Just step away from her," Kath said, attempting to keep her tone even. It wasn't working.

"You're right. I'm wasting my time here. This bitch will never talk. Might as well put her out of her misery." Kath heard the customary _shring_ as a new knife was pulled from its sheath. "I just sharpened it, so it's completely humane." Okay, enough was enough. She heard Gordon move towards the vampire, but pulled herself out of Dean's grasp and placed herself between Gordon and his prey.

"Gordon," Kath said, her tone pleasant. "I'm letting her go." She was rewarded with a knife at her throat.

"You're not doing a damn thing."

"Hey!" Dean said, moving towards Gordon himself, but stopped when he pushed the knife closer up Kath's neck. "Gordon, let's talk about this."

"What's there to talk about? It's like I said, Dean. No shades of gray."

"Yeah, I hear you." What? Dean, this guy is holding a bloody knife to my throat, rip him to pieces, Kath wanted to scream, but she stayed silent. Sam seemed to be frozen in place. "And I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Apparently Gordon wasn't such an idiot after all.

"That vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but this one-" Now Dean was interrupted yet again. By Gordon's maniacal laugh.

"Killed my sister? That filthy fang didn't kill my sister. It turned her," Kath's blood temperature dropped at least ten degrees; the hairs on the back of her neck had never stood up this much. So what had he- "It made her one of them. So I hunted her down, and I killed her myself." Of course he had, the vindictive bastard.

"You did what?"

"It wasn't my sister anymore. It wasn't human. I didn't blink, and neither would you."

"So you knew all along, then?" Sam asked. Ah, there was her brother's previously absent voice. "You knew about the vampires; you knew they weren't killing anyone. And you just didn't care."

"Care about what? A nest of vampires suddenly acting nice? Taking a little time out from sucking innocent people? And we're supposed to buy that?" Gordon laughed again. "Trust me. Doesn't change what they are. And I can prove it." The knife disappeared from Kath's neck as Gordon switched his grip on her and grabbed her arm. Then she cried out in pain as the knife sliced slowly across her arm. She heard Dean and Sam both pull out their guns, but there was ringing in her ears.

"Let her go!" Dean shouted, all attempts to befriend Gordon gone. "Now!"

"Relax," Gordon said, dragging Kath along by the arm. "If I wanted to kill her, she'd already be on the floor."

"You wish, asshole," Kath said, then hissed when Gordon squeezed her arm a little too roughly.

"Just making a little point, sweetheart," Gordon said. He held her bleeding arm out, over the vampire's head. Kath could feel blood dripping off of it, and watched in partial terror as the girl hissed herself, extending her fangs. It wasn't a pretty picture.

"Hey!" Dean yelled again. Way to be protective, big brother.

"You think she's so different?" Gordon asked. "Still want to save her? Look at her. They're all the same. Evil, and bloodthirsty."

No, Kath could see Lenore shaking her head now. "No," she said, struggling with herself. Kath watched as the fangs retracted and she turned away from Kath's arm and its trickling supply of food. "No!"

"You hear her, Gordon?" Sam shouted now, and Kath nearly grinned.

"You hear her?" Kath said herself. Lenore continued to shout in protest, and Kath pulled herself from Gordon's grasp, stumbling away from the bastard. "We're done here."

"Sam," Dean ordered, "get the girl out of her."

"Lenore, not me," Kath corrected, reaching for the comforting presence of her switchblade. "I'm staying right here." She could hear Gordon's labored breathing now. He still couldn't believe that he could be wrong.

Sam picked the vampire girl up into his arms, and Kath could hear Gordon take a step towards him. Forget the blade, she pulled out her pistol and trained it on Gordon just as she knew Dean was.

"Uh-uh! Gordon." Dean said, his tone dangerously cheerful. "I think you and I've got some things to talk about."

"Damn," Kath muttered. "And I was looking really forward to shooting him."

"Get out of my way," Gordon threatened, speaking to Dean.

"Sorry buddy," Kath grinned, waving her gun gallantly.

"You're not serious," Gordon was almost in shock.

"I'm having a hard time believing it too, but I know what I saw," Dean refused to back down too.

"If you want those vampires," Kath added, "you've gotta go through us."

Kath heard a knife swing through the air, then slam into the table. "Fine."

"I'm not shooting an unarmed man," Kath said grumpily. "Find me when this is over, I need to put a bullet in his shoulder."

She found the nearest wall and exited out the back door, gun still in hand.

She sat on the steps of the front porch a few minutes later, cursing her position. She could hear bodies being thrown across the house as Dean and Gordon fought, and despite all of her attempts to act otherwise, she felt completely inferior and helpless. She could take any demon on in a fight. She could ward off spirits, fight vampires, and kill the supernatural, but when it came to fighting a regular human, she was incapable. Sounds and smells and touch could only get you so far in a fight. You needed to be able to see the person you were fighting with, even if just to know where you were supposed to be swinging.

Somehow she found it in herself to take a nap right there on the porch; it had been a long night. She could feel the heat of the sun's morning rays when she awoke, the same time Sam drove back in the Impala.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Sam said, helping her up.

"Too loud, too happy, little brother," Kath groaned.

"I'm guessing everything's been quiet?"

Kath smirked. "If by quiet every other hour I could hear Dean beating the crap out of Gordon, then yes, it has been quiet. What a freak."

Sam nodded. "I didn't think there could be hunters like him."

"Sam, the only hunters you've really been around are Dean, Bobby, and Dad. But trust me, Gordon here isn't the only wacko in our world. I've had to work with a few myself; they are not pleasant people. I kinda feel bad for them though; all of us hunters get into the business for not-so-stellar reasons. These people take it harder than most."

"Still, Kath," Sam disagreed. "That doesn't give them the right to go psycho when they're hunting. Some things aren't as bad as others."

"You really are too good, Sammy. It may hurt you in the end, but I'm glad that this whole life hasn't changed you. You'll end up like Dean or me; too inebriated to see where we're going next or to even ask why we're doing it any longer."

"Why are you a hunter, Kath?"

It should have been a simple question, but it wasn't. "I'm not quite sure anymore. When I was little, it was for revenge, and now it's still kind of for revenge, but I don't want to keep living this way. Not forever. You've lost Jess, and we all lost Mom and Dad, and I've lost a couple more people when I was alone, but if this keeps happening, if we keep losing everything we've worked for, what's it going to be worth in the end?"

"We save people," Sam said in an attempt to help.

"That we do," Kath said. "And I can think of fifty human beings who can go their way in the world because we were there to help. I hope, in the end, that it's all worth it." She managed a faint smile. "C'mon, let's go get Dean. Our job's done here."

"You ready to go?" Sam asked as they entered the cabin, and Dean laughed.

"Not quite," he said, turning back to Gordon. "I guess this is goodbye. It's been real." There was a loud collision as Dean's fist collided with Gordon's face, knocking him to the floor still tied to a chair. "Okay, I'm good now. We can go."

"One moment," Kath said, releasing her grip on Sam's arm and making her way to Gordon. She squatted down next to his face, where he was moaning into the ground. "Like I said, I don't shoot an unarmed man," she said softly. "Not a fair fight for them. But come near my family again and I'll pepper you with bullets. Capiche?" Another groan. Kath stood, smiling. "Sadly for you, I'm not above this." She drew back her leg and kicked him in the head. "That's for calling me sweetheart." She turned back to the boys, smile still upon her face. "Let's get out of here."

She walked out of the house first, heading toward the car alone. She grasped at the bandage wrapped her left arm and grimaced for the first time since the actual injury. She heard Sam and Dean talking behind her, hopefully apologizing, and managed a real smile. By the time the boys climbed into the car, she remembered why she was doing this. Thanks to hunting, she had a family again.

* * *

**This was an attempt to weave Kath into Sam and Dean's world. Hopefully it worked. Let me know if it did!**


	7. Nightshifter

**Kath's POV**

* * *

Kath couldn't remember the last night that she'd had a proper rest; Dean had both of his siblings working day and night on new cases, traveling from city to city. It was exhausting, migraine-inducing work, but Kath couldn't remember a more exciting time in her life. Most of her previous jobs took weeks to finish, with proper planning, searching, and killing all done in good time. The Winchester boys were restless though, and Kath thoroughly enjoyed it.

She hadn't been with them the entire journey, however. Bobby had called her up with a personal case that she flew up to work with him on, leaving the boys to their own devices. According to Dean, Kath had missed "a town full of deadly freaks that randomly disappeared, our old pal Gordon who apparently thinks Sam is part devil, and an imaginary hoodoo friend." It was all very clear cut.

Now they were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where a woman with no previous signs of violence had robbed a jewelry store and killed herself. Kath, to the dismay of the boys, had walked in with them, sunglasses over her eyes and cane in hand.

"Agent Todd, criminal psyche evaluator for the bureau," she introduced herself by waving a fake ID to the manager with Sam right behind her, Dean already interrogating/flirting with a salesgirl. "Don't mind me, I'm just here to listen and draw conclusions."

Sam and Kath listened attentively as the manager told his story about Helena, the well-known jewelry buyer who managed to raid the store, off the night watchman by stealing his own gun, then kill herself in her bathtub with a hair dryer. She'd had no motive and just dumped the stolen jewels nearby, without selling and losing anything. It was extremely strange, even by Kath's standards.

"Would you mind showing us the security camera footage?" Kath asked, before realizing how strange that sounded coming from a blind woman's mouth. "S-sometimes the perp may have said something to their victim, some kind of last words," she followed up quickly, covering for her mishap.

The manager shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry, the police already confiscated all of our tapes. Didn't you know?"

Sam leaned over smoothly. "The bureau is working hand in hand with the police, of course. We had orders to take the tapes ourselves; obviously someone caused a miscommunication. So you never saw any of the footage yourself?"

"The police took all of the tapes, first thing," the manager apologized.

"Of course they did," Dean walked up from behind, a piece of paper rustling in his hand. Salesgirl's phone number, clearly. "Thanks for your time sir, we'll be on our way."

As soon as Kath exited the building she yanked the bobby pins from her hair, loosening the too-tight bun she had carefully arranged earlier. "Where to next?"

"How the hell do you do it, Kath?" Dean asked from behind her. She grinned in response, leaning up against the Impala.

"Same way any of us pull off these covers. Lie through my teeth and look stellar doing it," she said languidly. "People will believe anything if you look enough like the part. Besides, who says there can't be blind criminal psyche evaluators in the FBI?"

Sam grumbled. "Anyone with more of a brain than these people."

"Calm down Sammy, there really aren't many people who actually know what they're talking about. I can pull it all off, no questions asked. Quit doubting me so much, it's not like I've gotten caught yet."

"Yeah, calm down Sammy," Dean said, although Kath didn't really like his tone. "She hasn't gotten caught."

Kath rolled her eyes. "You're planning to lock me in a closet and pick me up after the job's over, aren't you?"

"You learn fast, Kathleen," Dean said, patting her on the shoulder. "Now let's all quit arguing and get in the car; we have another stop to make."

* * *

**Sam's POV**

* * *

Sam had to admit it; Kath did have a way of getting things done, even if it put her in firing range. Maybe he was just feeling a bit too overprotective; she was his sister, after all. And blind, being blind was important too.

A cell phone rang in the back of the car, and Kath rustled through her personal belongings before answering it herself. "Hello?" There was a pause, and Dean turned down his music slightly so that she could answer the call, much to Sam's chagrin. Dean never turned down his music for him. "This is she." Another pause. "No, I cannot get into that right now, Jay," her tone turned stern. "I'm working another job." Alright, now her brothers were clearly eaves-dropping, but it wasn't entirely their fault; Kath never talked about her past. Then again, none of them did. "Call up Nance, she'll probably be dying to help." She sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand. "What about Lucy? Keith? Heck, Jo's working cases now herself, call her!" The irritation levels in her voice were steadily growing, and Sam knew Kath well enough by now to know that her 'friend' should have stopped bugging her a long time ago. "No Jay, I can't see you anytime soon. I gave you this number for emergencies. Quit calling me." Then she slammed her phone shut, squeezing her eyes shut in frustration. Dean and Sam watched the entire episode from the front, staring back at her from the rear-view mirrors.

"Anyone you need me to beat up?" Dean offered from the driver's seat, which managed to grapple a stiff smile from his sister.

"It's a little late to play overprotective big brother, Dean. I'll deal with this a-hole later. I'd rather solve this case anyways."

They drove on in silence for a few minutes, before Sam broke it. "So... Who's Jay?"

Dean groaned and let one hand leave the wheel to slap his brother upside the head, not too painfully. "What part of 'stay out of each other's business' don't you get?"

Kath cringed at the slap, but shook her head. "It's not that big of a deal. Jay's another hunter I met working in Boston. Good kid, got into the job when his mom nearly got herself killed by an axe-murderer's ghost."

"Wait, nearly?" Sam asked. "She didn't die?"

"That is what nearly implies, Sammy. I know, most hunters don't get in without some kind of revenge in mind. Jay's more of a vigilante. Thinks he can maintain a normal life and still hunt monsters."

"Oh, please don't tell me," Dean cut in. "You two had a-"

"He was a very nice guy, big brother, and nice is sort of hard to come by for anyone like me. So yes, I did date him."

"We are really going to have to chat about your choices in men."

Kath rolled her eyes. "That'll happen when I start complaining about how often Sam and I end up being your wingmen for the night. Speaking of which, how was Frannie?"

"Who?"

"The salesgirl. At the jewelry store. She was practically begging for you, Mr. FBI Man."

"Oh yeah! She was hot."

"Of course she was. Anyhow, I broke it off with Jay; he was clingy and nearly got me killed a couple of times." She pointedly ignored Dean's shout of victory and decided to speak only at Sam. "Unfortunately, he's surrounded by a group of hunters that I've become close to over the years, and that means we have to pass by each other a little too often for my liking. He just called me up for the third time this month to ask for help on a case in D.C. I can't help, clearly, as I'm here with you guys."

"Aw Kath," Dean said, his voice patronizing. "If you want to go so badly, you could just ask. Sammy and I can take this one by ourselves."

The car slowed to a stop as Kath managed a fake smile. "Ha ha. No thank you, I'd prefer to be without the company of a man who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to wrap grubby little hands around me in public when we aren't even dating."

The siblings clambered out of the car, and Dean helped his sister to her feet before slipping his hand around her waist. "See? It's not that- OW!"

Kath had just stepped on his foot and elbowed him in the gut, "I did warn you," she said before following after Sam to the door of the new house that they were investigating. "So who is this guy we're supposed to talk to?"

"Ronald Resnick," Sam read from a notepad in his hand. "Security guard who got beaten unconscious at another robbery, the Milwaukee National Trust. It got hit about a month ago."

"Same M.O. as the jewelry store?" Kath asked.

"Yep. Inside job, longtime employee, the never-in-a-million-years type. Dude robs the bank, then goes home and supposedly commits suicide."

"This would be so much easier to figure out if the cops hadn't taken the security cameras," Dean muttered as Sam knocked on the door.

"They were just doing their job," Kath muttered offhandedly, although it seemed like she mostly agreed with him.

"No, they're doing our job, only they don't know it, so they suck at it." The door was taking entirely too long to be answered, so this time Dean pounded on the screen. "Mr. Resnick? Ronald Resnick?"

The next thing Sam saw was a blinding flash of light as floodlights filled the porch. Kath didn't react, naturally, but Dean managed to mutter a few expletives before shouting. "FBI!"

A short, tubby man came to the door, apparently still unbelieving. "Let me see the badge." Sam, Dean, and Kath pulled their fake IDs out of their pockets and slammed them onto the door in unison, the boys still protecting their eyes. The light dimmed significantly as Ronald hit a switch, and Sam studied the man in front of him. This was bound to be interesting. "I already gave my statement to the police," Ronald said.

"Yeah, listen Ronald, uh . . . just some things about your statement we wanted to get some clarification on," Dean blinked in the dimmer light, still adjusting to the brightness.

"You read it?" Ronald seemed a little surprised at the proceedings, but Dean didn't see it.

"Sure did," Sam's older brother replied.

"And you want to listen to what I've got to say?"

Dean paused, for a beat. Finally he could tell that something was off. "Well, that's why we're here."

"Well, come on in!" The excited little man waddled off down the hall, and Sam felt Kath's hand wrap around his arm as they entered the house. He had noticed over the past couple of weeks that she had begun to use him as her new walking stick, but he didn't mind much during the undercover missions. Besides, he knew well enough by now that she could move quite easily without an aide. She'd even roundhouse-kicked a zombie on one of their jobs; that had been awesome.

Ronald Resnick's house was the home of true Area 51 believer; a regular UFO adherent. His walls were covered with pictures alien sightings and articles on government conspiracy theories. Then the guy started talking, and Sam was pretty sure that he was half of a nut-case.

"None of the cops ever called me back. Not after I told them what was really going on." Ronald was incredibly twitchy, watching the Winchesters a little too closely. "Uh, they all thought I was crazy. First off, Juan Morales never robbed the Milwaukee National Trust, okay? That I guarantee. See, me and Juan were friends, he used to come back to the bank on my night shifts and we'd play cards."

"So you let him into the bank that night, after hours," Sam confirmed, as they all seated themselves in Ronald's living room, covered with more alien paraphernalia.

Ronald shook his head. "The thing I let into the bank wasn't Juan. I mean, it had his face, but it wasn't his face. Every detail was perfect, but too perfect, like, you know, like if a doll maker made it, like I was talking to a big Juan-doll."

"A Juan-doll?" Kath asked incredulously beside him, keeping her eyes focused on Ronald. He was clearly human, but even Kath seemed to reading something off this guy. Case of the crazies, probably.

"Look, this isn't the only time that this happened, okay?" Ronald shoved a manila folder into Sam's hands. "There was this jewelry store, too. And the cops, and you guys, you just won't see it!" Sam skimmed through the folder, slightly impressed. This guy had built up quite a case around this monster. Too bad he had no idea what he was dealing with. "Both crimes were pulled by the same thing."

Sam handed the folder back to Ronald as Kath said, "What's that, Mr. Resnick?"

Ronald grabbed at a magazine at a table beside it and nearly shoved it into Sam's face. The title_ BIRTH OF THE CYBERMEN_ glared across the headlines. "Chinese have been working on 'em for years. And the Russians before that. Part men, part machine. Like the Terminator. But the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people."

Dean smirked beside them. "Like the one from T2."

"Exactly! See, so not just a robot, more of a, uh, a Mandroid."

"A Mandroid?" Sam and Kath asked at the exact same time. They were beginning to copy each other. Great.

"And what makes you so sure about this, Ronald?" Dean asked, before throwing a glare at Sam and Kath. Considering only Sam could actually see it, he felt like he was getting the worst of the punishment.

Ronald pointed a finger into the air and waddled over to his television set, where he stuck a VHS tape into the player. "See, I made copies of all the security tapes. I knew once the cops got them they'd be buried. Here."

"Thank God for this guy," Kath whispered into Sam's ear. "Now maybe we'll get something." The four people watched the VCR intently, and Sam saw Kath's eyes widen in his peripheral vision. A second later, Sam knew what she had seen: the light-flare in 'Juan's' eyes as they were caught on camera. The tell-tale signs of a shapeshifter.

"You see?" Ronald said, pausing the tape at the exact moment and nearly jumping up and down from excitement. "He's got the laser eyes."

Dean seemed semi-impressed as Ronald continued his rant about the 'mandroid', but Kath's squeezed her arm gently around Sam's to get his attention. The slightest shake of her head told him what he already knew; they'd have to break the poor guy's heart... In a not so literal sense of the way.

"Okay," Sam cut him off, catching Ronald's full attention. "I want you to listen very carefully. Because I'm about to tell you the God's honest truth about all of this." He paused for a moment, taking a breath, then continued. "There's no such thing as Mandroids. There's nothing evil or inhuman going on out there. Just people. Nothing else, you understand?"

Dean managed to keep a straight face, but widened his eyes behind Ronald's back at his brother. Way to break it to him. Kath kept her head down, refusing to make eye contact, as useless as that would be, with any of the men in the room. And poor Ronald was indeed shattered. He desperately tried to make his point, "The laser eyes-", before being interrupted yet again.

"Just a camera flare, Mr. Resnick. Look, I know you don't want to believe this. But your friend Juan robbed the bank and that's it." Even Sam felt sorry for doing this to him, but all three of the Winchesters knew that it was the safest thing to do, for everyone involved.

Ronald was furious, understandably. He stood and the three fake FBI agents did as well. "Get out of my house! Now!"

Sam nodded, "Sure. First things first."

A few minutes later, Kath managed to catch Ronald's eye before they left. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Resnick," she said, before they all exited the house as quickly as possible.

* * *

**Dean's POV**

* * *

Dean smirked, half-amused by the entire proceedings. They were back in their motel room, dressed in the hunting gear and decided their next move. Kath lay on a bed, eyes closed in some kind of meditative trance as she thought through the entire last day. Dean had seen before and learned not to question it. It was Sammy who had really been impressive today.

"Man, that has got to be the kicker, straight up," Dean said as Sam looked up from the television set to listen to him. "I mean, you tell that poor son of a birch that, what did you say, remand the tapes that he copied? Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation?"

Sammy rolled his eyes, staring up at Dean. "What, are you pissed at me now?"

"No, I just think it's a little creepy how good of a Fed you are. I mean, come on, we could have at least thrown him a bone; he did some pretty good legwork there."

"Mandroid?" Sam said, as if he needed no further explanation.

"Except for the mandroid part. I liked him. He's not so different from you or me or Kath. People think we're crazy."

"Sam did the right thing, Dean," Kath said from the bed, not even bothering to open her eyes. "Ronald was going to get himself killed if he kept going. Shapeshifters are no easy target; think about yourself, you're technically dead in St. Louis, right? He's no hunter, it's better that he doesn't know. And yes, I'm sure that it's a shapeshifter, Sammy, so I don't understand why you keep looking through those tapes."

"Just trying to see if it'll give any other clues," Sam called back to her, pausing the tape yet again as the eyes flared at the camera. "Well, the retinal reaction to video is definitely there. Just like St. Louis."

"I hate these friggin' things," Dean said as he sat beside Sam.

"You think I don't?" Sam asked, and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, one didn't turn into you and frame you for murder," Dean said matter-of-factly.

"So, if this shifter's anything like the one we killed in Missouri-" Sam started, until Dean cut him off.

"Guess Ronald was right. They like to lair up underground, preferably the sewer. And all the robberies have been connected so far, with the, uh, sewer main layout." Dean pulled out a map that he had grabbed entering the town. "There's one more bank lined up on that same sewer main."

Both men turned around as Kath practically leapt off the bed, eyes wide and smiling. "Let's go get ourselves a shapeshifter."

* * *

**Kath's POV**

* * *

Kath entered the City Bank of Milwaukee through the front doors, only a few minutes after her brothers had gone in as security camera technicians. She knew how long it would take for them to get passes to see the cameras, and knew exactly where they would be going. Her biggest job was to not get caught.

Thankfully, even a blind woman can make herself seem at home if she acts like she has an important task at hand. She heard the boys on the other side of the room, talking loudly with a security guard about routine camera checks. She nearly smiled; she had told them to be audible, not shouting. In no time at all the brothers were being led out of the main area of the bank and down a usually locked hallway. Usually considering Kath had caught the door before it shut and followed behind them, quiet as a mouse. She could tell where the crevices in the walls were that she could hide in, which halls were easiest to duck behind and avoid being seen. She listened carefully behind one wall as the boys assured the guard that they would be perfectly fine, heard the guard pass by her hiding spot, then snuck back to the security camera doors. Banks were most concerned about their money getting stolen; a person walking around the personnel hallways was less of a threat. It also helped that her brothers were now the camera monitors.

One knock on a door later, and she was completely safe.

"Why exactly did we bring you along on this one?" Dean asked as Kath settled herself on a chair behind them. "You didn't even bring the popcorn."

Kath smiled coldly, placing a pair of booted feet on the dashboard. "Thank goodness cameras don't affect the fact that I can see the supernatural, otherwise this would be a very boring day."

"Just keep an eye out," Sam said off-handedly, and Kath laughed.

"That's a sorry blind joke, Sammy, you'll really need to do better if you want to hang around me."

All joking aside, their scouring of the cameras was of little help half an hour later. Kath was as blind as ever to the screens, not a single flash of monster before her eyes.

Sam was getting a little restless. "Maybe we jumped the gun on this one. I mean, we don't even know it's here."

"Mm-hmm," Dean responded, and Kath could tell that her older brother was getting a little distracted.

"Maybe we should just go back to the sewers and-" Sam stopped speaking and Kath rolled her eyes.

"He's staring at some poor girl's ass, isn't he?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Dean, we're supposed to be looking for eyes-" Sam started, but Kath cut him off.

"Third screen from the top right!" Kath said excitedly. "I saw a flash."

Sam and Dean immediately turned to where she was pointing.

"Hello freak," Dean said.

"Got him," Sam said, relieved. Kath heard him turn the door knob, but Dean stayed in front of her, staring at the screens.

"Dammit," Dean cursed, and Sam turned back from the door.

"What?" Sam and Kath asked at the same time. Dean pointed at another screen, then explained, for Kath's benefit.

"It's Ronald. He's chaining the doors and has an assault rifle."

Kath covered her face with a hand and could hear Sam groan behind her. "Damn," they said it unison.

Kath could barely make out Ronald's shouted words through the audio on the cameras, but she could definitely hear the gunshots fired in the building. "This is not a robbery! Everybody on the floor now!"

Dean and Sam scrambled to the doors, but Kath stayed seated. "I'm no help to you guys out there. I'll keep an eye on our shifter; he's not on the cameras right now but he's bound to show up again soon. Go get Ronald before he makes an even bigger mess; do either of you have your phones?" Their silences gave it all away. "Great. Do either of you have silver?" More silence. "We are so screwed. Hurry and stop Ronald, I'll try and keep tabs on the shifter! And come get me when this is all over."

The boys rushed out of the room without another word, and Kath sat back in her chair, eyes glued to the screens that she knew were in front of her. Where had that shapeshifter gone?

A few minutes later, it didn't completely matter. A security guard ran into the room, and Kath immediately put on the acting spectacle of her life, crying and bawling and clutching at her "savior", saying how she was blind and had run into this room for safety. She didn't manage to keep him busy long enough to keep him from calling the police, but when Ronald rushed through the halls, frisking the building for hiding patrons, she managed to keep hidden from him and the guard didn't give her away as she lay silently fake sobbing under the consoles.

As soon as Ronald led away the security guard and a group of others that he had found in the back, Kath returned to the screens. The shifter had reappeared on the screen that she knew was in the main lobby of the bank. So he was amongst the prisoners, thankfully. So were her brothers, unfortunately. She could hear Sam being yelled at as the disliked sibling, and Dean attempting to calm Ronald down by pretty much telling him the entire truth. Then again, it's not as though he could really keep the man with the gun in the dark for any longer. From what Kath could make out, after a few unwarranted threats, Ronald had decided (with Dean's egging) to make Dean his captive and lock the rest of the hostages in a vault until they could figure out where the shapeshifter was. A few minutes later, Kath could hear the men in the halls, searching for the shifter as Kath held her face in her hands trying to ignore the stupidity of the entire problem. The shifter was in the vault with all of the other prisoners, but Katn couldn't figure out a way to find Dean and tell him so without getting caught by Ronald. A few minutes later, it didn't matter. Listening intently to the audio and watching the screens only to have it all disappear with one _pop _was extremely disheartening. Hooray, the police were here and they had cut the power. Assholes.

Kath figured that it would probably be easier to get caught than sit around in the dark waiting for her brother to find her, so she cautiously opened the door of the camera room and made her way out... Only to hit the deck when a gunshot rang past her. Another shot caught her on her calf; Kath bit her lip hard to keep from screaming in pain as she heard one man tackle another, yanking the gun from his hands.

"You moron, that's my little sister!" Dean shouted at Ronald, throwing the gun away from him. "Besides, you can't kill these things with regular bullets; what the hell were you thinking?"

She felt two hands wrap around her shoulders and pull her upright, jostling her a little too much. "Kath, talk to me. Did you get hit?"

Kath lifted one bloody hand from her leg and held it up for Dean to see. "It's just a flesh wound, but it hurts like hell," she said weakly. "Here, hold the wound for a second." His hands held her bleeding gunshot graze closed for a moment, as Kath ripped a piece of cloth from her tank top and wrapped it around her leg as a temporary bandage. "It'll do. We just need to hurry up and kill this son of a bitch; I'm tired of getting shot at." Dean helped lift her to her feet, and Kath hardly put weight on her hurt leg, leaning against a wall for support. "Hullo Ronald, remember me?"

"You're not an FBI agent either, are you?"

"No, but I'm not the shapeshifter either. So please refrain from shooting me again, okay?"

"Sure thing, miss."

Kath turned back to Dean, eyes wide. "You've had the shifter with you the entire time; we need to get back to that vault." She took a step and nearly collapsed; the bad leg wasn't going to hold any of her weight at the moment.

"Kath-" Dean was about to offer help, but she shook her head.

"I need to get used to it. Go ahead without me, I'll catch up in a minute. And you don't have to worry about a sniper getting me; I'm clearly a hostage in this situation." She smiled softly. "Go!"

Kath hobbled her way to the vault, staying close to the walls and low to the ground. She knew that Dean was still hunting around the halls, searching for stray hostages to keep them safe from the shifter should it attempt to escape, and finally reached the vault within a few minutes. Apparently Ronald had decided to release Sam too (thanks to Dean's coaxing), and he was trying to deal with a hostage with heart trouble. Ron kept brandishing his gun a little too threateningly, and Sam was trying to calm the poor man down. At least, Kath could tell that he was human because she couldn't see him. It was the guy standing above him that she could see, a hunk of shape-shifting glob wrapped up inside one human-looking body.

"Come on, man, you've got to open up the door," the shifter was saying, helping the heart-attack man stay upright. "We've got to get him out of here."

Ron cocked his gun beside Sam. "Both of you stay right where you are."

Kath stumbled up behind Sam, and he turned wide-eyed towards her. "What happened to your leg?" he asked.

"Ron was a little too trigger-happy. I'll survive. The shapeshifter's the guy trying to help the dying guard. Trust me, you can let the other guy out before he actually does have a heart attack."

"She's right," Dean walked up behind them. "Just found the poor guy's body lying in the halls. He's the one."

The three Winchesters stared down the shapeshifter obviously, and Kath could see the shifter watching them, knowing that he was toast.

Sam stepped forward. "You know, Ronald? He's right, we've got to get this man outside. Come on, I've got you." Kath listened to the proceedings, watching as Sam took the guard from the shapeshifter's hands.

The shifter's chances were quickly slipping away. "I'll help you," he said, walking forward, but Sam pulled away.

"Oh, I got him. It's cool, thanks."

Sam passed by Kath with the guard, and now it was Dean's turn to do the taking.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked the shifter, who shrugged and followed him out of the vault.

"You got the gun, man. I mean, whatever," the shapeshifter said, and Kath realized the precariousness of her position. She was too close to him.

That's when he struck, hitting Kath in the leg and pushing her into Dean, who had to flail and drop his gun to catch her. In that time the shifter took off into the dark halls, and Ronald followed after him, right into the open with his gun in hand.

"Stop! Come back here!" He shouted, just as Sam shouted "Get down!" and a sniper's bullet ripped through the window and buried itself in Ronald's chest. He fell to the floor with a thud, and Kath already knew that he was dead.

Scrambling on hands and knees, Kath followed in Dean's wake as he crawled over to Sam, who had hidden himself behind a pillar.

"The hostages are escaping," Kath said darkly. "This thing's going to become any one of them."

Sam and Dean both groaned, and Sam pushed the sick guard into his brother's arms. "You deal with the guard; I'm going after the shifter."

"I'll take the other hall; we'll make better time that way," Kath said.

"Holler if you see anything," Dean warned.

"No problem, although I might just take on this guy myself. It's been a pain in the ass."

"Good luck," Sam muttered, then they took off on their separate ways.

Kath cleared her halls with not a hiccup, although she did warn a few frightened hostages that it was actually safer in the vault than anywhere else in the bank. When she found her way back to the vault herself, Dean was already talking on the landline. He pulled it away from his ear an inch so that she could hear better.

"Woah. Kinda harsh for a federal agent, don't you think?" He said, answering whatever the Fed on the other end had just threatened.

"Well, you're not the typical suspect, are you, Dean?" Now it was time for the both of them to be horrified. How the heck did they know who Dean was? "I want you and Sam out here, unarmed. Or we come in. And yes, I know about Sam. Bonnie to your Clyde. Oh, and if in Kathleen's there too, she'd better show her pretty little face as well. It's like you guys want to be remembered as a traveling circus."

Dean managed to keep his voice unchanged as he continued. "Yeah, well, that part's true, but how'd you even know we were here?

"Go screw yourself, that's how I knew. It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you three for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, I know about the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecration and the thefts. I know about your dad."

Dean's voice darkened tenfold. Kath herself only heard this tone a few times in her life, and when she did she knew to run for her life. "You don't know crap about my dad."

"Ex-marine, raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwoods cabins. Real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of wacko he was. White supremacist, Timmy McVeigh, to-may-to, to-mah-to."

Dean was shaking now; Kath could feel him beside her. "You've got no right talking about my dad like that. He was a hero."

"Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through the doors full automatic."

Dean slammed the phone onto the landline as Kath began a steady string of curses. "What?"

Kath ran a hand through her hair, half-forgetting that there was still dried blood on it. "We need to get out of here, and fast."

"Why?"

"I've dealt with way too many Feds in the past couple of years. They're lying scumbags, but they're consistent. That deadline isn't an hour; it's probably closer to ten minutes. And that guy wants you badly, Dean, he's not going to take chances. We need to find Sam."

Kath took off down the hallway that she was sure that he had disappeared into, but with no luck. She wandered about the halls for a few minutes searching, before she happened upon her brothers and a tearful young woman. At their feet lay the body of the shape-shifter, still glowing. "Well done guys, you got it! How'd you kill it?" She said, pointing at the body.

Sam and Dean turned to each other in amazement, and Sam nearly pushed the actual crying girl away from him. "Oh gosh, that's actually Sherry." The next thing Kath knew, the girl's cries disappeared as she ran off. The shapeshifter sprang to life and attacked Dean, knocking Kath against the wall and Sam next to her. Dean and the shifter struggled off down the halls, just in time for the younger Winchesters to hear windows breaking around them. Kath squeezed her brother's arm reassuringly, then they took off in opposite directions as the SWAT team members rushed into the building. Kath ran down the halls, far away from the shifter and her brothers, but helpless if she didn't find a way to escape the SWAT guys. She heard a shout nearby... Sam's voice. The three pairs of feet that she could make out behind her separated: two went in his direction, one continued in hers. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned the corner, fell against the wall, and started to sob into her hands. She heard a person stop beside her and felt a hand touch her shoulder. She jerked away, still sobbing.

"Ma'am?" The SWAT man said, kneeling beside her. "It's going to be alright."

"Wh-who's there?" Kath said, lifting her head, still crying. "I'm sorry, but I c-can't see, it's too dark."

"It's just me ma'am, I'm here to help."

Kath stared sightlessly up where she knew the man's head would be, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "Good." Next thing they both knew, the SWAT guy was armor-less and handcuffed to a chair, gagged and unconscious, and Kath was making her way through the halls again. It was funny how little the suit did to affect her ability to move around; peripheral sight problems weren't much of an issue.

Another gloved hand touched her shoulder and she swung upright, ready to beat her attacker down. Luckily, she heard a friendly chuckle. "Great minds think alike, big sister," Sam said from above (he really was incredibly tall). "Let's just hope no one realizes how short this SWAT team member became."

"Or suddenly capable of running into a hundred walls," Dean said, coming up behind him. "Job's done, let's get the hell out of here."

"I couldn't agree more, and I'm even willing to let the blind joke pass," Kath said. "Let's move."

A few crucial minutes later, they fell into the Impala exhausted, yanking the SWAT helmets from over their heads. "We're screwed," Dean said.

"Completely screwed," Sam agreed.

"Never been so screwed before," Kath added. "Hit the gas, Dean, and get us out of here."

* * *

**Nightshifter was one of my favorite early episodes; I hope you liked this chapter! Please review; it means so much :) **


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